When you get on an airplane to go somewhere, do you have faith that you are going to get where you are going? Sure you do. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t get on the airplane. …
Christian Origins #83 - Hebrews
One of the most puzzling things about the Bible, at least to the modern mind, is animal sacrifice. Why kill an animal because you have done something wrong? I used to wonder why God couldn’t …
Christian Origins #82 - Hebrews
One of the strangest revelations in the Book of Hebrews is that the Tabernacle that Israel carried around the wilderness was a model of something that existed in Heaven. And not only that, but that …
Christian Origins #81 - Hebrews
It is tempting to think of religious ritual and ceremony as so much mumbo-jumbo that means next to nothing. Especially if it was done in a language you didn’t even understand. As a stranger who …
Christian Origins #80 - Hebrews
I know this is going to sound crazy. And it is going to be hard to explain why it should be so. But the entire structure of the worship of God in the Old Testament …
Christian Origins #79 - Hebrews
Is it possible that sometime in your life you have encountered God and didn’t even know it? The writer of Hebrews tells us to [b]e not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained …
Christian Origins #78 - Hebrews
Of all the things we know about God, one of the most disconcerting is that there is no place to hide from him. But let me put your mind at rest on something. God is …
Christian Origins #77 - Hebrews
One of the greatest pieces of symbolism in all the Bible is the Jordan River. It has captured the imagination of hymn-writers and theologians, generation after generation. When I was growing up, my father sang …
Christian Origins #76 - Hebrews
Who was Jesus, anyway? Was he really God? Or was he just an angel in the flesh? Or was he even flesh? We know he was the son of God, but is that literal, or …
The Faith Chapter
View PostHebrews 3 & 4
Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus[.] This last clause can almost be taken as the theme of the Book of Hebrews—Consider Christ. …
The Epistle to the Hebrews #9
Let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising …
The Epistle to the Hebrews #8
Today we come to that wonderful 11th chapter of Hebrews—the faith chapter. If you review back over what we’ve covered so far, there’s an interesting question that arises: Why does Paul embark on this discussion …
The Epistle to the Hebrews #7
For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the ones approaching …
The Epistle to the Hebrews #6
The Temple was a stage upon which the plan of God was played out and, metaphorically, the ministry of Jesus played for all to learn of and look forward to complete forgiveness in Christ. Then …
The Epistle to the Hebrews #5
Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum… That’s the way Paul begins chapter eight. And I thought, how kind of Paul to give us a summary. This is a complicated …
The Epistle to the Hebrews #4
For when God made a promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he swore by himself, Saying, Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you. And so, after …
The Epistle to the Hebrews #3
Last week, we stumbled over a reference that will dominate the next chapter. Paul recalls God saying: Therefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do always err in their heart; and they …
The Epistle to the Hebrews #2
For unto the angels has he not put in subjection the world to come, of which we speak. But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that you are mindful of him? …
The Epistle to the Hebrews #1
A lot of what we hear in discussion on the Epistle to the Hebrews is conjecture—including authorship of the book—but some of that conjecture is based on sound analysis. Many scholars these days conclude that …